This is the part where I'm supposed to put a bio, or so I was told, so we'll start at the beginning… I was born a poor black child...
But really, I grew up in Alameda, CA, right in the heart of the Bay Area and next door to Oakland.
Though it's always been a musical mecca, the Bay was a HOTBED of new sounds in the 80's… Metallica and Exodus were leading the way for thrash, and I was totally onboard!
I decided I wanted to play guitar, so I kept visiting a little music store that was conveniently place on the path between home and school. I had no idea what sort of guitar to buy and I didn't know anything about brands or what was the 'cool' guitar to have, so I just played (I use this term loosely) every guitar in the place over and over. My favorite guitar BY A LONG SHOT was the UKII from Ovation. Now I didn't have anywhere near the amount for that one so my choices narrowed to a few… A Takamine solidbody electric, an Ibanez Roadstar II, an Electra Westone, and an Ovation Preacher. I had saved up enough $ for all but the Preacher, and everyone in the store knew that's the one I wanted but didn't quite have the means (I was 14). With a little help from the store owner (unloading trucks, cleaning up, etc.) had enough to buy my first guitar, the Preacher.
I started with lessons right away and learned the classic ways of holding a guitar, proper fingering techniques, and some patterns to practice. Once it started getting heavy into theory, I lost interest and quit lessons. Those initial things I learned were very important, but I want to get busy PLAYING!
The rest of the Bay area aside, Alameda High was pumping out musicians faster than it was pumping out diplomas. Brad Gillis went to play with Ozzy and Night Ranger, Dan Chauncey went to play with 38 Special, Mark McGee with Greg Allman, Vicious Rumors and Love Planet, and the guys from Legacy (now known as Testament), and many many more. I started making friends in the circles, playing roadie on occasion, and learning from the people that were out making music. One of those bands i was roadie for had some personell changes, and since i already knew all the songs, I had my first opportunity to play in a gigging band as the rhythm dude. I got pretty damned good at the chugga chugga palm muting thrash stuff and started to play with more people in more projects. Within a year's time of practicing 10 hours a day, I went from beginner to playing in a metal band.
Pause… Kids… Family… Responsibilities… etc.
So welcome to my second musical wind. The musical tastes have changed from Rush, Metallica, and Iron Maiden to Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam, and Neil Young, but the passion and drive is just as strong as ever (and I still revert to my metal days quie often).
In more recent years I've had the pleasure of playing with some awesome Seattle folks. I started off with open mics and really started to get to know the scene around here. Most the folks I play with now are all people I met through these events.